West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-20
THE KING AND LANDLADY.
Translated from the German for the Ar
kansaw Traveller, by Alex. A. Sweet.

! lTdHSldltu lTOll tlit OcIibdh iol thV -
kansaw Traveller, by Alex. a. Sweet.
"The Inn of the Golden Carp" at
Hechtheim, country village near
Munich, was famed far and wide for
two things. One was the excellence
of the cookery, and the other was
/ the candor of the landlady. Her
candor was thought by some to
amount to positive impudence. She
was an original. She was as indie.
pendent as a woodsawyer, and spoke
her mind freely to everybody, re-
gardless of age, sex, present or pre-
vious condition, so to speak. AS a
cook she had no rival. She had
some peculiar way of cooking carp
that made them taste so good that
her house never lacked guests.
Maximillian, the genial king of
Bavaria, had heard so much about
the "Inn of Golden Carp" and the
wit and the originally of the land
lady, that he determined to pay her
visit, accompanied by several of
his staff. 1t was only few hours
drive from Munich to Hechthelm,
and one fine morning, after having
notified the landlady of the antici-
pated visit, the king and his suit
halted in front Of the renowned tav-
ern.
The monarch entered the dining
room of the inn, and was received
with all possible honor by those
present. He looked around in vain
for the landlady, of whom he had
heard so much. Perhaps she is
dressing herself in order to impress
us more favorably," thought the
king. He accepted some refresh
ments that were offered him.
"Your majesty has got the first
sample of her impudence,' - said Gen.
Haller, a member of the royal suit,
whose breast WAS adorned with vari-
Gus orders and decorations. rm s.
King Maximillian himself thought
that this failure on the part of the
landlady to pay him any attention
was rather impudent, and upon his
asking where she was, the landlord,
who as might be supposed did not
have much to say about the prem
ises, stammered that she was pre-
pairing the fish forthe royal banquet
and that his majesty would soon see
her along with the fish.
The adjutant of the king went
into the kitchen to see what was the
reason the landlady was so impolite.
She was at the stove so busily en-
gagged in cooking the carp that she
did not show any signs of being
awed by so important a parsonage
as the adjutant thought he was.
"Are you the iandlady?" asked
the adjutant rather abruptly.
Il guess I'm not the landlord; al
most anyfool could see that" was
the tart reply. go ~ IHr m'ilf'',,'
His majesty wishes to see you"
Il guess he'll manage to hold out
until the fish are cooked"
His majesty is the ruler over all
his subjects. He has to command
and you have to obey l ~
That may do for funkey like
you L,r.r.l .
"Flunkey. 1 am the adjutant of
the king"
We'll, in this house / am king
myself, and | don't propose to be
bossed by anybody, much less by a
jackanapes like you. What do you
do for living, anyhow
''Do you refuse to obey the king?"
Certainly / do, when he asks
anything unreasonable, but / don't
suppose that he is such a wretched
blockhead as to want me to wait en-
him and cook fish at the same time.
Tell YOUR boss that | would not lose
my reputation as good cook to
please all the kings in the world.p
The adiutant, returned to King
Maximillian and repeated the con-
vcrsation he had had with the land
lady. King Maximillian was agood-
natured man, and being anxious to
see how far she would carry out the
Joke, sent Gen. Haller into the kitch
en- to order the landlady to come
into his presence at once.
Gen. Haller strobe into the kitch-
en- with martial tread, and in a
commanding voice said:
"His majesty, the king, orders you
to appear before him Immediately"
This attack, however, failed dis
mally, for the only reply was a merry
peal of laughter.
What are you laughing aboutT
exclaimed the general angrily. ''His
majesty wishes to speak to you"
Tell him TO come into the kitchen,
then"
What, his majesty come to you
here in the kitchen:"
why not?'' she replied, calmly
turning the fish in the pan. "The
distance from his majesty to the
kitchen is just the same as the dis
tance from the kitchen to his majes-
| 49, q alo..1z ..or..o.-nl q nd toll